


Coffee and a Paper

by seasalticecream32



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-04
Updated: 2014-12-04
Packaged: 2018-02-28 04:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2718419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasalticecream32/pseuds/seasalticecream32
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlolly in the headlines.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee and a Paper

"You are a dork, Sherlock." She paused, elbow deep in cadaver. "Or a nerd. Or something like that."

"I am not." He's spinning on his stool, occasionally glancing at the results of her autopsy. He's brought in cases for her every day since John left. She keeps reminding him that he'll be back in a week or so, but he never seems to care.

"What's a nerd, Sherlock?" He frowns at her.

"A schoolchild wearing glasses with a calculator?"

"A nerd is someone who gets wrapped up in something else so much that it becomes part of their identity." She looks him over, eyes pausing on his upturned collar and his pocket that she knew held the microscope. His scowl deepens.

"I'm not a nerd." She smiles at him, shrugs, and continues with her work.

The silence passes comfortably until she's finished and washing up, in which he feels the need to remind her again he is in no way a nerd, he is a Consulting Detective and this is his job. She only smiles and shrugs again. Her purse sits on the counter, her arms looping through it before her hands have dried. That's when he spots it. She tries to shove it further down, her face turning a bright red. The reaction only grows his interest.

It's a newspaper, the bottom half of it sticking out, the headline hidden by layers of thick, brightly colored canvas. He expertly swipes it from her hands, sliding it between grasping fingers. At first, he just thinks they've managed a strange typo. They've spelled his name wrong. Or somehow forgotten what they were spelling halfway through.

**SHERLOLLY DOES IT AGAIN.**

His brow furrows, the paper held out from him to check the date and article. Further investigation reveals that the title is not mistaken.

"Have you read this Molly?" She's looking anywhere but him, her mouth pulled tight and her hands fidgeting. She has. She knows he's going to find out she has.

"You kept it?" This question also gets no verbal response. "Hm."

"What?" The look crosses his face. The one he only gets when he's planning an experiment. Social experiments are usually far from his table, but the way he stares at her…

"Would you like to go get coffee with me, Molly?" He moves the article behind his back.

"Why?"

"Because I would like some coffee."

"Yes, but why would you like coffee with me?"

"I fancy some company?"

"You're trying to see what they say, aren't you?" She rolls her eyes but heads out any way.

"What exactly made Lestrade decide to call us that?" He's not really asking her, she can tell. He's found a new mystery. She doesn't answer. He gives her another look, the one that says he's enjoying something she's done. She doesn't know what, but what's the point in questioning him now.

Coffee is uneventful. They sit in a shop, sip on their cups, and Molly nearly suffocates under the silence. She knows it's only her. He's as cool and calm as ever. She's a wired bundle of nerves, and as he probably guessed, she bursts.

"He accidentally called us that to the press. It was a case we were hardly involved in. They just used the name to get readers." She fiddles with the cup handle, sliding her thumb over the rim. "He thinks I'm dating you?"

"No, no… I mean, I'm sure he—"

"It says right here: D.I. Lestrade credits the Sherlolly couple for the upswing of solved cases recently." He skims through the paper. "Shippers of Johnlock? Molly what do they mean Shippers of Johnlock. Why does my name appear melded with so many others?"

"Oh. Well. You know how Mrs. Hudson is always calling you gay? And calling John your boyfriend?" She squirms, hopes it will dawn on him before she has to fully explain.

"Yes? He's married now, that's hardly relevant."

"The internet is a strange place, Sherlock." She blushes brightly, his attention focusing on her.

"The internet? This stuff is on the internet?" His gaze sweeps over her and he makes a realization. "Are you a Shipper of Johnlock?" Her blush spreads.

"No. I'm, uh," Her coffee has to be cold by now. "I'm a Sherlolly all the way." She can feel the drop as he realizes what she said. Waits for the inevitable rejection.

"A Shipper of Sherlolly? Yes, that does sound a bit better, rolls off the tongue a bit." He's awkward now. She knows this isn't his area.

"So, are you a Shipper of Sherlolly, then, Sherlock?" She's nearly melted into a puddle, but she asked.

"I am not opposed to it."


End file.
